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Thoughts on various manga controversies...
In the past month or so, I've been noticing a lot of controversies and arguments in regards to manga, and I can't help wondering if some of the people involved have gone a little off the deep end...
It all started when Nick Simmons, the son of KISS bassist Gene Simmons, was accused of plagiarizing Tite Kubo's manga Bleach in his Incarnate comic. Judging by these comparisons on a Bleach livejournal community, there seems to be little doubt that Simmons directly copied images, and in some cases dialogue from Bleach. Simmons's accusers on the community also make a compelling case that some of the images were not just copied freehand, but were actually traced from Bleach, and they've overlaid images from both comics to prove it. He was also accused of copying from various other manga titles, including Hellsing, but as Bleach seems to be the most prominent and most famous example, most of the accusations are centering around Bleach.
Incarnate had been released in individual comic issues and was scheduled for graphic novel release, but has now been suspended by the publisher. Simmons issued a statement saying that he had been "inspired" by Bleach and apologized to manga fans and artists "who feel I went too far," but stopped short of admitting guilt.
Now first off, assuming that he actually did copy from Bleach (and imho, it definitely looks like he did), I think that Simmons was an idiot to think that he could get away with it. With a more obscure title, say, one that hadn't been published in English yet, he might have gotten away with it, but Bleach has been published in the US by Viz for some time now, and it's one of the most popular titles in their Shonen Jump line. There is no way that someone wasn't going to the notice the resemblance eventually. Maybe it's possible that he wasn't expecting manga fans to be reading his comic, and I don't know what his publisher's marketing strategy was, but with his manga-like art style, I'd say that it was likely to have crossover appeal to manga fans--which would inevitably include some Bleach fans, or at least people familiar with Bleach.
Then the whole plagiarism scandal set off another controversy, this one regarding the ethics of scanalations and fan art. Deb Aoki, who writes a blog for Manga.about.com, wrote up an entry on the Nick Simmons scandal, but called into question the morality of some of Simmons's accusers on the Bleachness LJ community, pointing out that some of the Bleach images they used for comparison were scanalations from chapters that haven't yet been published in English. She said on Twitter: "Before you get all self-righteous about how you're standing up for Tite Kubo, ask yourself how many Bleach scanlations/fansubs you download. The sales lost to mass consumption of Bleach fansubs/scanlations hurts Tite Kubo far more than any half-assed Nick Simmons comic." And also: "I'm putting out there that some of the fans who are piling on Nick Simmons are throwing rocks from glass houses. It's not about the money so much as asking people to really ask themselves what 'supporting' an artist you love really means."
Now, I like and respect Deb. I regularly read her blog, and I even met her at a convention once and had a pleasant conversation with her. But I was a little hurt by the implication that everyone who reads scanalations is a leech who only reads stuff online for free and doesn't spend money to support the artists that they love. (Although I hope that she was only singling out the people who actually do act like that.) I also understand that as blogger Melinda Beasi pointed out in her article, "Confessions of a Former Scan Junkie," many of the bloggers speaking up against scanalations personally know people in the US manga industry that have been hit hard in these tough economic times. When people that you know are being laid off, or their companies are danger in going out of business altogether, the potential loss of income to scanalations becomes a much more personal matter that hits close to home.
Personally, I'm a little torn on the issue. I have to admit that I read scanalations and that I've watched fansubs of anime series. However, for myself, I used it as a preview to decide whether those series were something that I wanted to buy. I watched fansubs of Card Captor Sakura, Wolf's Rain, and Bleach, but I bought the dvd box sets once they became available in the US. I haven't even watched my Wolf's Rain dvds yet, but since I had watched and enjoyed the series for free, I felt obligated to go out and buy the dvds in order to support the creators, and to support the US anime industry, so that they continue to license other anime titles.
I didn't read scanalations of Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino--myself and a few other fan translators laboriously created and posted text translations on the Petshop Yahoo Group, though. I originally fell in love with the anime, which was released in the US prior to the manga, and went out and ordered import copies of the manga from Japan. I wrote a letter to the editor of Shojo Beat, asking them to consider it for license, and got back a polite response saying that it sounded interesting and that he would try to check it out. As it turned out, Viz didn't license Petshop, but Tokyopop did, and I bought the US editions as soon as they became available. I wasn't really happy with the translation of the first few volumes, and although a new translator was eventually brought on who obviously cared a lot about doing a good job, I still thought that English re-write was Americanized a bit too much. (Not blaming the translator here, since the translator and re-writer are usually two different people.) However, I still bought the manga, because I wanted to support Akino-sensei, and I hoped that if the series did well, they would license some of her other series (and hopefully take a few less liberties with them).
Eventually I discovered the Night Exile Matsuri Akino scanalation site (and later their LJ community), and I hungrily devoured everything they had to offer. They try their best to respect both the fans and the creator: they pull their scans off the web as soon as a title is licensed in English, and they urge people to buy the manga, posting links to sites where you can order import copies. I ordered as many copies of Akino-sensei's manga as I could find (and afford), including the entire Kamen Tantei and Genju no Seiza series (to date, as I believe it's still ongoing, or was at the time), along with Shin Petshop of Horrors. When Tokyopop licensed those series, I went out bought the US versions, too--although unfortunately, Genju was indefinitely suspended at around Volume 7.
I don't think that the scanalations had anything to do with the suspension, and I certainly hope that it didn't. I think it was more that Genju appealed to a niche market, and was a victim of the bad economy. The old Petshop series sold fairly well from what I've heard, and the new one is doing well enough that the Tokyopop is still carrying it. But still, it's hard to know what effect scanalations have on sales.
On the Petshop of Horrors Yahoo Group, my co-mod and fellow translator was anti-scanalation, and for that reason, we posted only text translations, in the hopes that it would encourage people to buy the manga. (This was before the series was licensed in English; we ceased the translations when Tokyopop picked it up.) At the time, I barely even knew what scanalations were, so I went along with it, and anyway, my Photoshop skills are pretty much nil, so I wouldn't have been able to create any scanalations myself, anyway.
I've read the Youka Nitta scanalations, mainly because most of her series are no longer available in the US, due to BeBeautiful going out of business. However, I do own volumes 1-5 of Embracing Love, and I've bought as many of her Haru tankoban as I could find (along with Boku no Koe and Casino Lily). I've also bought The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy (only vol. 1 is available in English so far), and am eagerly awaiting the US release of Otodama. (It was supposed to have come out this month, but hadn't come in yet at the local comic book shop where I purchase most of my manga. The owner says that publisher DMP has a habit of shipping books late--sometimes months late, which doesn't seem very good for business. I'm not sure if this is a regular problem, or just an isolated problem with this one merchant. I did pick up a couple of other recent DMP titles that appear to have reached the store on time.)
So for myself and most of the people I know, we try to support the manga/anime industry by buying legal copies--in Japanese or English, or both--along with reading/viewing scanalations and fansubs. However, I can understand Deb Aoki's anger when I read some of the ridiculously entitled comments on her article. In response to the question, "If you want to talk insulting, ask yourself how you'd feel if you spent years honing your craft as a comics creator, created a comic book, and someone translated it into Japanese without your permission, translated it horribly, and thousands of people read it and you didn’t get a dime. How's that feel?" cwfgrtb replied, "If you were only in it for the money then maybe it could burn a bit."
Excuse me?! An artist who objects to people plagiarizing or scanalating his or her works should be looked down on because they're "only in it for the money"? Just because they love their work doesn't mean that they don't have to feed their familes and pay for rent, and they certainly shouldn't feel ashamed for wanting to be properly compensated for their work! This argument really burns me, because I have several family members and friends who are or were teachers, and they get similar boneheaded statements directed at them. In these tough economic times, the salaries of government workers, including public school teachers, are being cut, and if the teachers object to their already low salaries being cut further, people say, "If they really cared about the kids..." or "they ought to set a good example for the kids and volunteer their time (by, for example, giving up non-teaching planning days)..."
It may be that some compromise is needed in order to balance the budget, and I know that manga artist =/= teacher. But I really hate the implication in both cases that if you really love your work, you ought to be willing to do it for free. No matter whom you are, everyone needs to make a living in order to survive, and everyone is entitled to a fair wage for his or her work. I wonder how much of his/her time cwfgrtb gives to volunteering for worthy causes, and how he/she would feel if they were asked to work their job without a salary?
Other arguments I've seen floating around the web: "Negima/Bleach/Naruto/etc is being released in the US, but I don't want to have to wait that long to read the current (Japanese) chapter!" While I do have a bit of sympathy for this argument, knowing how agonizing it can be to wait to read the next chapter of a cliffhanger, I generally stop reading scans and wait for the official release. It wouldn't bug me so much if the readers actually did buy the US manga when it comes out, but it sounds like a lot of them don't.
Which brings me to the next argument: "I can't afford to buy manga, so I have to read it for free!" Er, no...you are not entitled to have free stuff just because you can't afford it. Again, I would feel better if these people said, "Well, I can't afford to buy much manga, but I save up my wages/allowance, and when I can afford to buy a copy, I do, even if it takes awhile." But that doesn't seem to be the case. And there are other alternatives: you can go to the libarary, if your library carries manga. If they don't, suggest that they do, and suggest a few titles that you would like them to carry. My friend is a Young Adult librarian, and since she wasn't familiar with manga when she first started the job, I recommended a lot of titles to her. Publishers Weekly, a magazine that most libraries subscribe to, usually carries a few manga reviews, and you could also suggest the MangaBlog site as a good news/review source. You can also buy used copies for a discount online or at a local store, or trade with friends, and if your school/college/local community has a manga club, that might be a good way to find fellow fans that you can share books with. There are also online trading circles, where the participants mail manga to the next person once they're done with it, and all it costs is the price of postage. Obviously, they have to rely on an honor system, but I read an article about them linked on MangaBlog awhile back, and they seemed to be reliable for the most part.
And while it may sound a bit sarcastic, you could also learn Japanese and read the original Japanese tankoban (graphic novels). Truly, I'm not being sarcastic--it's not easy, but I learned to read Japanese just so that I could read the Petshop of Horrors manga. It was a struggle, and my skills still aren't that good because I'm self-taught, but after studying some textbooks, and armed with a few romanized Japanese-English dictionaries, books on Japanese grammar and slang, and an excellent beginner's kanji dictionary, I can manage to translate the gist of a manga if I'm willing to put the time into it. I won't get every nuance, but if the manga has furigana (pronunciation guides), I can probably manage about three-fourths of the meaning and get the general idea of the story. If you're in high school or college, and have the opportunity to take formal lessons, I'd say "go for it!" It would probably be a lot easier, and I wish I'd done that while I was in school. But my point is, if I can manage to passably read Japanese all on my own, kids with access to real lessons could probably manage the same, eventually--if they're willing to put the time and effort into it.
This argument carries a bit more weight with me: "I don't like the way they changed/Americanized the names and/or deleted honorifics." I stopped buying Initial D after Tokyopop Americanized the names because it bugged me so much, and Detective Conan by Viz does the same thing. I did, however, compromise by borrowing Initial D from the local library. And it does bug me that in Bleach and Prince of Tennis, Viz has the characters calling each other by their first names, when they mostly use last names in the originals--it implies a sense of familiarity and intimacy that isn't really there, and plus they're shooting themselves in the foot if one of those relationships ever deepens to the point where one character starts calling another by their first name--how are they going to show the change in relationship then, when they're already on a first-name basis? However, it's a relatively minor irritation for me, and I do buy the manga because I want to support the creators.
There was a guy online who says he reads scans of Detective Conan because he doesn't like the way Viz handles the translation--fair enough. (Sorry, I don't have the link, although I did find it on MangaBlog, and can probably trace it back if I have to). However, he doesn't buy the tankoban either, feeling that because he doesn't read Japanese, there's no point to it and he might as well just send money directly to the manga-ka. That's speaking rhetorically only, of course--so basically, he's reading the stuff for free. If you aren't actually going to send money to the manga-ka, then please buy the tankoban in order to support them, even if you can't really read it. That's why I bought my Wolf's Rain and Bleach dvds, even though I'd already seen the episodes, and why I bought the Matsuri Akino tankoban, even though I'd read the scanalations.
Here are some of the places that Night Exile recommends to legally buy import manga:
Jpqueen (note: this site sells mainly used merchandise)
Amazon.co.jp
Sasuga
Yes Asia
I would also recommend Kinokuniya BookStore as a good source of manga--they're a Japanese chain with several branches in the US. (They also sell dvds, cds, regular books and magazines, and other merchandise.) Their website is mainly in Japanese, so it can be difficult to navigate, but if you call or go in person to one of the US branches, you can talk to an English-speaking employee. I don't get to go there very often, but when I do, I'm like a kid in a candy store! ^_^ There's so much great stuff to buy that I could easily go broke if I didn't rein myself in. One thing that I do find frustrating about Japanese bookstores is that for some reason, they seem to shelve manga by publisher rather than author, so it can be hard to find stuff if you're not sure who the publisher is. However, you can always ask an employee for help, although I do feel a bit sheepish when an employee starts talking to me in Japanese because I look Japanese, and then I have to ask them in English to help me find a book written in Japanese! ^_^ But the people there have always been very helpful, and I'm sure they're aware that there are a lot of English-speaking manga fans who may want to pick up Japanese copies of their favorite titles. (They also carry US-published manga and anime releases as well.)
***
As for the fan art portion of the debate...I'm not sure where I stand; it's kind of a gray area. I was a bit naive about such things when I went to my first anime convention and walked into the Arists' Alley: I was like, "Wow, how can they be selling sketches and paintings of copyrighted characters?" Then again, the Japanese industry tacitly tolerates doujinshi (fan-made comics), and there are even big conventions where people go to openly sell their doujinshi. Rather than being in competition with the original, it's considered to be an expression of the fans' enthusiasm, and hopefully inspires them to buy more of the original work. After all, it's unlikely that you're going to draw a piece of Naruto fanart or buy a Bleach doujinshi without having read the manga or watched the anime.
I admit that the concept puzzled me at first, coming from a fanfic POV, where authors regularly include disclaimers that they don't own the characters and aren't making any money off the story. On the other hand, it doesn't really cost anything to write a story and post it online. (Well, it does require a computer, a word processing program, and an internet connection, but most people online already have those things for work, school, or pleasure, and wouldn't normally go out and buy a computer just to write fanfic. And if necessary, one could go to a public library and work on a computer for free, if they have internet access for the public, although personally, I wouldn't really want to write fanfic at the library with other people around.) But creating a piece of fanart does require certain expenses: paper or canvas; pencils, pens, and/or paints, unless one is doing solely digital art. And reproducing a comic or artwork also costs money, unless one is only giving away a digital file. Similarly, someone creating a scarf or plushie has to invest in yarn, fabric, and/or thread.
Interestingly enough, there was a recent link on Metafandom asking if fanmade items should be illegal. It's my general impression that most fan artists aren't making a huge profit off selling stuff at conventions, and are lucky to make a small profit or just break even; feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. So my own opinion is if it's a labor of love and the artist isn't making more than enough to buy new supplies and at best, maybe throw a little party for their doujin circle or manga club, then it's okay. If it got to the point where it was becoming an industry and they were making a living off of it, then that would be wrong, but I don't know of any fan artist being that successful, though some manga-ka got their start in doujinshi and became successful creators of original work, most famously CLAMP.
Actually, fanfic did lead to me into becoming a consumer of certain works. I started off as a casual Harry Potter fan, borrowing the books from the library, then got hooked on reading Snupin fanfic online, and started writing my own fic. Since I kept having to refer to the books as reference, it wasn't practical to keep borrowing them from the library, so I went out and bought my own copies--which I wouldn't have done if not for fanfic. And I got to know one fanfic writer through a Snupin story she wrote, and went to her site where she had posted a lot of Prince of Tennis fanfic. I read a few and they sounded interesting, but I had no idea whom the characters were, so I started reading Prince of Tennis--some volumes I bought, some I read at the library, plus I bought the import artbook and a couple of special editions that haven't been released in the US yet. In general, I do feel that fanworks inspire people to buy more of the original versions rather than compete with them, although personally I'd feel uncomfortable about charging money for fanfic or art (aside from charity auctions).
***
Onto the next controversy: blogger Melinda Beasi, mentioned above, wrote an article called Dear Fandom: Please Grow Up that points out the hypocrisy of manga fans hating on Twilight fans, especially with the release of the new Twilight graphic novel. She also points out the misogyny of mostly male fans hating on a fandom consisting mainly of teenage girls, to the point of threatening to shoot them. And she asks people to have a bit of patience and remember that we were once annoying teenagers, too, with questionable taste in books--she mentions the V.C. Andrews book Flowers in the Attic, a tale of incestuous love between teenaged twins, which I'm a little embarrassed to say was one of my favorite books in middle school. *blush* I think I was captivated by the whole taboo nature of the romance, in a "wow, I can't believe someone actually wrote a book about two siblings getting it on!" sense. Of course, I eagerly devoured the sequels, and the other books that the author wrote, including My Sweet Audrina, but the first book was always my favorite.
So yeah, I admit that I have issues with Twilight, including Edward's stalkerishness, and I still crack up hysterically about the "sparkly vampire" thing, but I wouldn't attack someone or threaten to shoot them just because they like a book or movie that I don't. As I told Melinda in the comments, "I'm a manga/anime fan, a Harry Potter fan, and a former D&D gamer, so I know what it's like to have people look down on my hobbies, and I'd never want to do that to anyone else. We all ought to be mature enough to live and let live."
I thought Melinda's article was reasonable and well-written, and since I'm not involved with the Twilight fandom, the whole issue didn't really affect me personally. What really got me steamed was the way that Yamila, whom I believe is the owner of Yaoi Press, attacked Melinda in the comments.
In the article, Melinda had said, "So somebody, please explain to me how–in a fannish universe filled with things like lolicon, yaoi, replica underwear, and Hot Gimmick, all revered with levels of obsession so great they have a special word for it–there can possibly be anything wrong with Twilight fans." Yamila took this as an insult against yaoi, responding, "When you list yaoi as something that people should be just as ashamed of as lolicon (little girl porn) you make me hate Twilight even more. The point of your article is to stop the maligning of Twilight fans. Why do you have to prove it by maligning yaoi fans?"
Now, I know from reading her blog that Melinda is a yaoi fan and regularly reviews yaoi manga, although she dislikes certain yaoi tropes, which is why I started reading her blog in the first place--we have similar tastes in yaoi, and I know her reviews will generally warn if the manga contains something I consider squicky, like non-con. So I didn't take any offense, and I knew she was only trying to say that both yaoi and lolicon fans have faced criticism from outsiders. I can understand how a stranger might take it the wrong way (although it seems that the two of them know each other), and Melinda tried to explain her position and address Yamila's concerns. But it seemed like no matter what Melinda said, Yamila was determined to take offense with it, and in the second exchange of comments (there are two threads of conversation between them), she started going off on this weird rant about "I hate Twilight because it took money out of my pocket, period. When something funded by millions of dollars directly competes with my tiny little yaoi company I haven't a hope in hell to win." Now, I can understand that she's bitter because she's had a hard time promoting her business because bookstores and conventions don't want to carry "gay porn"--although I see plenty of June and Blu books for sale at my local stores, so I'm not sure if that is really the problem--but Twilight is taking money away from Yaoi Press? Really? Are the teenage girls who love the star-crossed het romance between Bella and Edward really the same people buying explicit 18+ yaoi material? There may be a bit of crossover in the two fandoms, but I don't really think that most of the Twilight fans are saying, "Oh, I'll by the Twilight graphic novel instead of Incubus Master!"
Furthermore, attacking a blogger who's trying hard to be polite in the face of your rudeness is just, well...rude. Melinda was much more patient than I would have been, even offering to review more Yaoi Press manga in case she'd been remiss by ignoring them. Then Yamila turned around and attacked her kind offer as another insult--which is not just rude, but frankly, kind of dumb and self-defeating. Should a struggling business owner really be not just turning down an offer for free publicity, but attacking someone they consider to be an influential manga reviewer? Not that I think Melinda would allow a personal disagreement to affect her reviews, but that just doesn't seem like a good business move on Yamila's part.
I haven't bought any Yaoi Press books because I'm not really impressed by most of the artwork that I've seen, which looks a bit too cartoonish for my personal tastes--although Lore recommended The Lily and The Rose, which I keep forgetting to order and actually does look pretty nice. And quite frankly, Yamila's incredibly rude rant doesn't inspire me to want to give her my money--although I suppose the creators shouldn't be penalized for her bad behavior. Still, as a representative of a business and the authors that she promotes, she needs to keep in mind how she appears to the public. She seems to consider Melinda as someone who has enough influence to turn a significant number of readers to Twilight and away from yaoi, which is clearly not what Melinda is trying to do, but if Yamila really believes that, maybe she shouldn't be bashing Melinda in front of all her so-easily influenced readers? Maybe she thinks her rant will convert them? It just boggles me that the head of a company would act in such an unprofessional manner, especially to a reviewer, and in front of potential customers.
***
And finally, I was going to address the issue of people going apeshit over possible censorship in the long out of print yaoi Finder series (another BeBeautiful victim), but I'm kind of tired out by the above craziness. Check out this brief article and interview by Deb Aoki about DMP's rescue of Finder. Apparently some rabid fans are going nuts on the June forum and attacking DMP because they might censor Finder--never mind that the book isn't out yet, and we don't even know if it's going to be censored or not. DMP is being a little vague about it, but the books are still being prepared for release, and they may not know if or how much they'll have to censor. And although I normally hate it when manga is censored, I'm a little more understanding these days, particularly after the whole Christopher Handley mess, in which a man was sentenced to prison for importing lolicon manga through the mail. It kind of gives me the shivers, considering how young some of the guys in yaoi manga look, even if they're supposed to be over eighteen. And although I usually avoid that sort of thing, I do own a few student-teacher relationship titles such as Passion or Hey, Sensei? where one of the characters is still in high school. What if some over-eager postal inspector decides to open my package of manga and decides that it's illegal obscene material? Some people in the manga industry discuss the effect that the Handley case will have on manga and anime in the US here.
To the people getting worked up about Finder, I say, "Chill. Wait till you actually know whether there's censorship or not before you start attacking DMP. Either the publisher will make an official announcement, or another fan will buy the books and announce what was or wasn't censored, and then you can make your decision as to whether to buy it or not. Keep in mind that the publisher has to abide by US regulations against obscenity, which are rather vague, and that the expense of a lawsuit could put them out of business, even if they eventually won. You'll have to weigh your moral objections to censorship vs. buying the manga to support the author, and maybe getting more of her stuff published in the US if Finder does well. If it is censored, and you wish to express your disapproval to the publisher, there are better ways to go about it than ranting obscenities on the internet and attacking fans who disagree with you. Send them an e-mail, or better yet, write them a letter--which takes more time and effort, showing that you're serious about you're saying--politely worded, telling them why you're not buying the book, and that you would be willing to spend your hard-earned money on an unaltered release. Let them know which releases you did like and did spend money on so they know what they're doing right as well as what they're doing wrong (in your opinion). And once again--be polite. It's possible to converse in a polite and reasonable manner even when you disagree with someone, and they'll be far more likely to listen to you than if you start attacking them and calling them names."
Okay, so I did end up ranting about Finder, after all! ^_^ The ironic thing about it is that I didn't even really like it! I bought the first volume when BB released it, and while the artwork was beautiful, I couldn't stomach the very heavy non-con. But some of those anti-censorship fans were being so obnoxious that now I sort of feel like I should buy it just to support DMP.
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I'm not sure there's much of a takeaway from the Handley case, to be honest, other than people are afraid that an adult male, possibly with poor social coping skills, who lives in his mother's basement and spends his free time in online gaming and poring over loli manga, will turn out to be a pedophile and not someone who sublimates any such inclinations with his reading. Either he or his suppliers were being monitored (I tend to think it was him) for him to be targeted. I doubt this is going to lead to systematic monitoring of manga or manga consumers in general. Frankly, US attorneys' offices are busy and have tons of other, better things to do.
Also, as this discussion of censorship in anime and manga mentions, this is probably more a problem for male fans of loli, like Handley, than female fans of yaoi, including shota. Women are not perceived as potential pedophiles and hence aren't targeted, though as a result of the Handley case, two LJ friends of mine have f-locked all their NC-17 stories (or all of their stories) and instead of posting links to their journals in comms, post the stories themselves and member-lock them.
As for Deb Aoki's comments, I take them to be aimed at those who, as you acknowledge, use scanlations and fansubs to completely bypass the need to tangibly compensate artists for their work.
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I was probably being a bit oversensitive about Deb's comments. The bad behavior of the more entitled fans just makes me want to shout, "Hey, we're not all like that!"
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